Eileen J. Morris is a director, actress and educator. She worked closely with the founder George W. Hawkins from 1982 until his death in 1990. From 1990 to 1999 she served as The Ensemble’s artistic director and from 1999 to 2006 worked as managing director at the University of Pittsburgh — Kuntu Repertory Theatre under Dr. Vernell A. Lillie. Her directing credits include: American Menu, Crumbs From the Table of Joy, The Dance on Widow’s Row, Blue (received the African American Council on the Arts Onyx Award for Best Director 2004), Get Ready, Dancing on Moonlight with Pittsburgh’s New Horizons Theater; August in February 2005,2004, 2003; Jonathan, Fences (received the African American Council on the Arts Onyx Award for Best Director 2005), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom ( received honorable mention from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette for Best Play) Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (received one of the Best Director mentions from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette) and other plays at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre; A Love Song for Mumia, Murderer on the Hill District, Liftin’, Flyin’ West, with Kuntu Repertory Theatre and A Black History Celebration featuring Irma P. Hall with Pittsburgh’s City Theatre. Eileen has worked on a number of industrial and training films, feature films and commercials. She enjoys all aspects of the art –because art is and breathes life.

One of the most powerful aspects of live theatre is witnessing the words of a playwright come to life before our very eyes, thereby transporting us from one world into another. “The Word” is obviously an important aspect of theatre,
and it is first and foremost text that takes us to places that can be familiar or unknown, and can lay the foundation for performances that inspire audiences and capture the essence of the human spirit. Life also has that transformative element; one minute you’ve got every thing mapped out and the next moment there is an upheaval, a turn or change that one must navigate without knowing exactly where it will lead.

The stories within our selected plays for this 2008-2009 season create a “passport to adventure”, a place where we come to expect the unexpected, where we enter into new worlds with gusto, desire, passion, and curiosity that yearns to be nurtured. And that is what we are asking you to do, embrace the journey. This year, in order to extend our commitment to fostering an interdisciplinary appreciation of the arts, we will partner once again with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. We will also feature the work of three Houston-based artists whose work invokes
images of the adventure and journey that we are taking, William A. Lawson, Ted Ellis, and Frank Frazier. Their dynamic work will not only engage audiences, but will also underscore the theme of adventure and discovery.

Each of the selected plays takes us on a journey that can hopefully become a personal adventure. Radio Golf, the final production by our friend, August Wilson takes us on a retrospective journey in real estate and politics. Set in Pittsburgh in the late 1990’s, it’s the story of a successful entrepreneur who aspires to become the city’s first black mayor, and the challenges that he faces when his past catches up with him. Back by popular demand, Carlton Leake’s The Twelve Ways of Christmas introduces us to a diverse celebration of the holidays and this time with a few new stories to be told. The Man Who Saved New Orleans is the world premiere by native Houstonian Thomas Meloncon. This play chronicles the struggles of a family that has been pulled together through crisis yet must deal with having lost everything. Activist, suffragette, and Civil Rights leader Ida B. Wells is the focus of Constant Star by Tazewell Thompson, and we’re delighted to once again, produce Judi Ann Mason’s Livin’ Fat, the humorous tale of a family striving to make things better for themselves when a financial blessing is thrown in their face. They must contemplate what to do and deal with the external changes to their family as a result. We are proud to close our season with the fiercely mystical and musically vibrant story of Dorothy who travels to Oz and discovers more about herself than the whimsical characters she meets in The Wiz.

What a trip! These productions represent the diverse journeys that help to create beautiful landscapes to pass on to future generations of theatre-goers, and assist in helping us all fuel the appetite for adventure within. We invite you to come with us and take flight!As we begin our 31st season, we want to carry on our commitment of exploring issues relevant to the African American community by providing our audiences with plays that exemplify the best in black theatre.

In Arts Way,

Eileen J. Morris
Artistic Director